The present invention relates to a device for seating a rider on an animal, preferably a horse, and to the use of such a device for seating a rider.
The first riders rode bareback on horses without saddles, and held on to the horse by the mane.
The first leather saddles were developed by riders in the Asiatic steppes about 2000 years ago and enabled the riders to engage in combat, gallop after the enemy, fire arrows and the like all the time whilst remaining on the horse, which leads to the situation wherein the horse is uncontrollable and unpredictable, a dangerous state of affairs for both rider and horse.
During these last 2000 years the basic design of the saddle has remained the same, wherein saddle is built up around a central, solid, inflexible xe2x80x9ctreexe2x80x9d which extends centrally along the backbone of the horse. The rider sits on a seat arranged above this tree whilst the remaining parts of the saddle are built up therearound.
A disadvantage of these known saddles, is that they are relatively inflexible, which, when being placed on a moving horse whereby the backbone is constantly changing in form, leads to irritation, pain and sometimes injury for the horse.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved saddle which substantially overcomes one or more of these problems.
According to a first aspect of the resent invention, here is provided a device for seating a rider on an animal, preferably a horse, said device comprising:
a first side frame member having a proximal end, a distal end, and a middle section extending therebetween,
a second side frame member having a proximal end, a distal end and a middle section extending therebetween, wherein the first and second frame members are attached in such a way as to create a sitting area for the rider between said first and said second frame members.
Since according to the present invention, the traditional central, solid tree is now replaced by a first and second side frame member which does not extend along the backbone of the horse, but which is arrangeable on either side of the backbone to provide a setting area therebetween, a seating device is provided which exerts substantially less pressure directly onto the horse""s backbone in comparison with known saddles.
The rider now sits directly above the backbone of the horse without the solid tree being arranged between the rider and the backbone of the horse. This enables the rider to sit, as it were, directly on the back of the horse, whereby the rider is able to effect a better control of the horse.
Moreover, since the central, solid, inflexible tree is no longer necessitated with the device according to the present invention, injuries to the horse resulting from misformed trees, damage to the saddle itself due to a bent tree for example, and a painful seating position for the rider can be obviated.
The frame members are preferably equipped with support pads pivotally arranged thereunder to support the frame on the animal""s back. In this way the device is able to react and move according to the movements of the horse""s back to effect a secure, reactive seating whereby irritation points due to uneven pressure which can lead to injury to the horse are substantially obviated.
Further details and characteristics of the device according to the present invention are to be found in the claims.
According to a further aspect, the present invention relates to the use of the above device for seating a horse rider.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for assembling the device comprising the steps of:
a) pivotally arranging a frame comprising:
a first side frame member having a proximal end, a distal end, and a middle section extending therebetween,
a second side frame member having a proximal end, a distal and a middle section extending therebetween, wherein the first and second frame members are attached in such a way as to create a sitting area for the rider between said first and said second frame members,
a distal joining frame member for joining the distal ends of the first and second side frame members together,
a proximal joining frame member for joining the proximal ends for the first and second side frame members together on an undercover, and
b) arranging a seat on this frame.